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Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiquas 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  cf  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographicaily  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


I !  c 


n 


D 


n 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  coulsur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagie 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur6e  et/ou  pellicul6e 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 

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Encre  de  cou!our  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
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along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  seri-^e  peut  causer  da  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
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have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  cert^ines  pages  blanches  ajoutdes 
lors  dune  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  tcxte, 
mais,  Icrsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  At6  film^es. 

Additional  comments:/  * 

Commen';aires  supplimentaires; 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplasre 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  d6tails 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  methods  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu6s  ci-dessous. 


□    Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 


V 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pagos  endommag6es 


I      I    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 


Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pelliculies 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachetdes  ou  piqudes 


□    Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d6tach6es 

□    Showthrough/ 
Transparence 


Quality  of  print  varies/ 
Quality  in&gale  de  I'ir.ipression 


□    Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  matdriei  suppldmentaire 

I      I    Only  edition  available/ 


D 


Seule  Edition  disponibia 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuille*  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6x6  filmdes  A  nouveeu  de  faqon  A 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  fiim6  au  taux  de  reduction  indiquA  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


iSEK 


m 


y 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  gnnerosity  of: 

Library  of  the  Public 
Archives  of  Canada 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copiec  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sior.,  or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

M^ps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


L'ttxemplaire  film4  fut  reproduit  grdce  d  la 
g6n6ro8it6  de: 

La  bibliothdque  des  Archives 
publiques  du  Canada 

Lea  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetd  de  I'exempiaire  filmd,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  dxemplaire^  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim^e  sont  film^s  en  commen9ant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exempiaires 
originaux  sont  filmds  en  commenpant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN", 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichd,  il  est  filmd  d  partir 
de  Tangle  supdrieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

1 

5 

6 

I 


COMMERCIAL  RELATIONS  WITH  THE 
DOMINION  OF  CANADA. 


There  is  no  more  obvious  remedy  for  the  present  depression  of  our  manu- 
factures and  trade,  nor  any  more  sure  foundation  of  our  prosperity 
in  all  time  to  come,  than  the  extension  of  our  commercial 
relations  with  the  adjacent   countries. 


I 


SPEECH 


OF 


HON.  ELIJAH  WARD 


IN'   THE 


I 


HOUSE  OF   REPRESENTATIVES, 


•est 


//lAY     18,     lo,...        /g7/^ 


The  prosperity  of  our  people  and  our  strength  as  a  nation  depend  more 
upon  the  unrestricted  exchanges  of  the  products  of  the  different  States 
than  upon  any  other  material  cause,  and  similar  commercial  rela- 
tions would  be  scarcely  less  valuable  to  our  citizens  and  the 
Canadians,     *    *    »    The  purpose  of  the  resolution  is  to 
ascertain  how  far  and  through  what  measures  we  can 
best  bring  into  practical  use  the  opportunities 
placed'within  our  reach  by  the  circumstances 
of  the  times,  and  by  immutable  nature, 
or  rather  by  Providence  itself. 


WASHINGTON: 
1876. 


I 


Coiinneivial  Relations  with  the  Doininion  oC  Canada. 


SPEECH 


ov 


HON.  ELIJAH  WARD. 


Tho  House  having  under  consideration  the  joint  resolution  providing  tor  the  ap- 
pointment of  comniis.Hioners  to  confiT  with  similar  CDniniiHsiduers  appoiuned  by 
Great  Britain  and  ascertain  on  wliat  l):i,sisa  mutually  benertcial  treaty  of  commerce 
between  tho  United  States  aud  Canada  can  bo  uegetiated — 

Mr.  WARD  said : 

Mr.  Speaker  :  At  the  present  time,  when  capital  seeks  iuveat- 
meut,  interest  is  reduced  beyond  a!I  precedent  in  tiiis  country,  wages 
are  lowered, immigration  decreases,  the  value  of  our  exports  is  dimin- 
ished, und  hundreds  of  thousands  of  our  people  are  iu  search  of  work 
by  which  tliey  may  earn  a  livelihood,  it  is  the  duty  of  wise  states- 
men and  sound  patriots  to  do  the  utmost  in  their  power  to  promote  the 
return  of  prosperity  by  such  measures  as  will  best  exteml  the  sales  of 
-our  productions  and  promote  our  carrying  trade  and  commerce. 
Hitherto,  intent  upon  tho  development  of  our  unparalleled  resources, 
and  having  a  sparse  population,  we  have  paid  too  little  attention  to 
external  trade  and  the  encouragement  of  foreign  markets  for  our 
products,  especially  for  those  of  onr  manufactories,  the  number  of  which 
we  have  stimulated  to  an  extent  far  greater  than  is  commei.surate 
with  the  demands  of  our  own  population. 

There  is  no  more  obvious  remedy  for  this  state  of  atiairsat  present, 
nor  any  more  sure  and  stable  foundation  of  our  prosperity  iu  all  time 
to  come,  than  the  extension  of  oitr  commercial  relations  with  the  ad- 
jacent countries  on  this  continent — on  the  north  with  Canada,  and 
on  the  south  with  Mexico. 

EXTENT  ANI>   KF.SOrUCES  OF  CAXAOA. 

We  yet  seldom  appreciate  at  their  great  and  piactical  value  the  im- 
portance of  the  vast  regions  north  of  the  United  States  on  this  conti- 
nent. Stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Paoitic  Ocean,  they  con- 
tain an  area  of  at  least  3,478,3-'0  square  miles  ;  more  than  is  owned  by 
the  United  States,  exclusive  of  our  newly  ac»]uired  territory  iu  the 
far  northwest,  and  not  much  less  than  the  whole  of  Europe  with  its 
family  of  nations.  No  small  proportion  of  these  Territories  consists 
^f  barren  and  inhospitable  regions  iu  the  extreme  north ;  but,  as  a  rec- 
ompense, the   arid    plains    extending   through  Texas,   and  thence 


nortliwanl  beydiid  the  liuiitH  of  the  United  States,  are  comparatively 
iuHiguiflcaut  as  they  enter  the  British  possessions,  where  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  being  less  elevated  and  having  a  narrower  base,  admit  the 
I)aK8age  of  the  clouds  from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  bearing  ample  rain  with 
its  fertilizing  influences  into  the  interior  of  the  continent.  By  the 
same  cause  the  climate  is  tempered. 

The  isothermal  line  of  60'^  for  summer  rises  on  the  northwestern 
I»lain8  as  high  as  the  sixty-first  panillel,  its  average  position  in  Europe  ; 
and  a  favorable  comparison  may  also  be  traced  for  winter  and  tho 
other  seasons  of  the  year.  Spring  opens  almost  simultaneously  for  a 
distance  of  about  twelve  hundred  miles  on  the  vast  jilains  reaching 
northerly  from  Saint  Paul.  Along  the  valleys  of  the  Red,  Assiua- 
boiue,  Saskatchewan,  and  Mackenzie  Rivers,  for  more  than  seven  liuu- 
dred  miles  north  of  the  limit  of  the  United  States,  wheat  has  been 
grown,  yielding  most  abundant  returns,  thus  indicating  a  soil  and 
climate  well  suited  for  the  crops  ordinarily  produced  in  the  cooler 
parts  of  the  temperate  zone.  Barley,  the  grasses,  and  many  root  crops 
grow  twelve  hundred  miles  north  of  the  same  boundary. 

These  facts  are  significant  proofs  of  the  immense  capabilities  of  tho 
agricultural  areas  in  the  interior  of  the  continent  north  of  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel.  Westward  from  these  regions — yet  scarcely  inhabited, 
but  of  incalculable  value  in  the  future — are  countries  of  yet  milder 
climate  on  the  Pacific  coast,  whose  relations  to  California  are  already 
important.  On  the  eastward  are  the  rapidly  increasing  settlements, 
enjoying  the  rich  lands  and  pleasant  climate  of  Manitoba,  on  the  Red 
River  of  the  North,  a  sti'eam  capable  of  steamboat  navigation  for  four 
hundred  miles. 

It  is  asserted  by  those  who  add  pergonal  knowledge  of  the  subject 
to  scientific  investigation,  that  the  habitable  but  undeveloped  area  of 
the  British  possessions  westei-ly  from  Lake  Superior  and  Hudson's 
Bay  comprises  suflticient  territory  to  make  twenty-five  States  equal  in 
size  to  Illinois.  Bold  as  this  assertion  is,  it  meets  with  confirmatiou 
in  the  isothermal  charts  of  Blodgett,  the  testimony  of  Richardson, 
Simpson.  Mackenzie,  the  maps  published  by  the  government  of  Can- 
ada, and  recent  explorations. 

North  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  northern  limit  of  Lake  Superior  to 
the  coast  at  the  southern  limit  of  Labrador  exists  a  vast  region,  pos- 
sessing in  its  best  parts  a  climate  barely  endurable,  and  reaching  into 
the  arctic  regions.  This  country,  even  more  cold,  dpsolsite,  and  bar- 
ren on  the  Atlantic  coast  than  in  the  interior  latitudes,  becoming 
early  known  to  travelers,  has  given  character  in  public  estimation  to 
the  whole  nortb. 

Another  line,  drawn  from  the  northern  limit  of  Minnesota  to  that 
of  Maine,  inclmles  nearly  all  the  inhabited  portion  of  Canada,  a  coun- 
try extending  opposite  the  Territory  of  Dakota  and  States  of  Miu- 


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iiesotii,  Wisconsin,  Mitshii^an.Oliio,  PonuHylviinia,N'»nv  YorI<,  Vermont, 
Now  Hanipshiit'.  and  Muinti,  possessing  arliiuate  identical  with  tliiit 
of  our  Northern  States. 

TlIK   M.VKiriME   I'ROVINTES. 

The  "maritime  proviucea"  on  tlie  Atlantic  coast  inelnde  New  Bruns- 
wick, Nova  Scotia,  Prince  Edward  Island,  and  Newfoundland. 
Geograjdiioally  they  may  be  regarded  •in  a  northeasterly  prolonga- 
tion of  the  New  England  system.  Unitedly  they  iueludi;  an  area  of 
at  least  8(1,000  square  miles  and  a^e  capable  of  supporting  a  larger 
population  than  that  at  present  existing  in  the  United  States  or  Great 
Britain.  They  are  e(|ual  iu  extent  to  the  united  territory  of  Holland, 
Greece,  Belgium,  Portugal,  and  Switzerland. 

The  natiiral  interests  of  New  Ib'unswick  and  the  adjacent  State  of 
Maine  are  inseparably  connect,  d.  New  Brunswick  has  an  area  of 
22,000,000  acres  and  a  sea-coast  lour  hundred  miles  in  extent  and 
abounding  in  harbors.  It  had  at  the  census  of  t^n  a  population  of 
285,594,  being  nearly  eciual  to  that  of  Nebraska,  Nevada,  (Oregon,  and 
Colorado.  The  chief  occupations  of  its  inhabitants  are  connected 
•with  ship-building,  the  tisheries,  and  the  timber  trade.  Judging 
from  authentic  surveys  and  records,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  speak  too 
highly  of  its  climate,  soil,  and  capabilities.  Few  countries  are  so 
well  watered  and  wooded.  ()u  its  unreclaimed  surface  are  large 
flvocks  of  timber  ;  beneath  are  coal-tields.  The  rivers,  lakes,  and  sea- 
coast  abound  with  fish. 

Nova  Scotia,  a  long  peninsula,  united  to  the  American  continent 
by  an  isthmus  only  tifteen  miles  wide,  is  two  hundred  anil  eighty 
miles  in  length.  The  numerous  indentations  on  its  coast  form  har- 
bors unsurpassed  in  any  part  of  the  world.  Including  Cai)e  Breton, 
it  has  an  area  of  12,000,000  acres.  Wheat  and  the  usual  cereals  and 
fruits  of  the  Northern  States  tlourish  in  many  parts  of  it.  Its  popu- 
lation in  1871  was  declared  by  the  census  to  be  367,800.  Besides 
possessing  productive  tisheries  and  agricultural  resources,  it  is  rich 
in  mineral  wealth,  having  beneath  its  surface  coal,  iron,  manganese, 
gypsum,  and  gold. 

The  province  of  Prince  Edward  Island  is  separated  from  New 
Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia  by  straits  only  nine  miles  in  width.  It 
is  crescent-shaped,  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  in  length,  and  at  its 
broadest  part  is  thirty-four  miles  wide.  It  is  a  level  region,  of  a  more 
moderate  temperature  than  that  of  Lower  Canada,  and  well  adapted 
to  agricultural  purposes. 

The  island  of  Newfoundland  has  a  sea-coast  of  one  thousand  miles 
iu  extent.  It  has  an  area  of  23,040,000  acjres,  of  which  only  a  small 
portion  is  cultivated.  Its  spring  is  late,  its  summer  short,  but  the 
frost  of  winter  is  less  severe  than  in  many  parts  of  our  own  northern 
States  and  Territories.    It  is  only  sixteen  hundred  and  sixty-vfie 


..it  ;.;a- 


G 


wiles  distant  from  Irolmid.  It  possesses  a  lnrjj[e  trade  with  varioiw 
countries,  inoliiding  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  the  West  Indies,  and  the 
Lrazils. 

The  chief  wealth  of  Newloundlnnd  and  of  the  Labrador  coast  is 
to  1)0  found  in  their  extensive  and  inexhaustible  fisheries,  in  which 
the  other  provinces  also  ]>artake.  The  future  products  of  these,  whoa 
properly  developed  by  human  ingenuity  and  industry,  defy  calcula- 
tion. The  Gulf  Stream  is  met  near  the  shores  of  Newfoundland  by  a 
current  from  the  ]>olar  Itasin,  vast  deposits  are  formed  by  the  meet- 
ing of  the  opposing  waters,  the  great  submarine  islands  known  as 
"The  Banks"  are  formed,  and  the  rich  pastures  created  in  Ireland  by 
the  warm  and  humid  inliuencesof  the  Gulf  Stream  are  compensated 
by  the  "  rich  sea-pastures  of  Newfoundland.''  The  fishes  of  warm  or 
tropical  waters,  inferior  in  <iuality  and  scarcely  capable  of  preserva- 
tion, cannot  form  an  article  of  commerce  like  those  produced  in  in- 
exhaustible (juantities  in  these  cold  and  shallow  seas.  The  abundance 
of  these  mar'ne  resources  is  tmeqnaled  in  any  other  portion  of  the 

globe,  except  where  similar  conditions  exist  in  the  northern  Pacific 
ocean. 

OXTAItlO  AND  (^UEilEC. 

The  provinces  of  Ontario  and  Quebec,  known  as  Canada,  before 
tile  union  with  the  Dominion,  include  an  area  of  not  less  than  185,- 
115,(107  acres,  independently  of  the  northwestern  regions  yet  scarcely 
ojien  for  settlement.  Their  territory  is  three  times  as  large  as  that 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  more  than  three  times  that  of 
Prussia.  It  intervenes  between  the  great  northwest  and  the  mari- 
time provinces,  and  consists  chiefly  of  a  vast  projection  into  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  United  States,  although  it  possesses  a  coast  of  nearly 
one  thousand  miles  on  the  river  and  gulf  of  the  Saint  Lawrence,  where 
fisheries  of  cod,  herring,  mackerel,  and  salmon  are  carried  on  success- 
fully. Valuable  fisheries  exist  also  in  its  lakes.  It  is  rich  in  metallic 
ore  and  in  the  resources  of  its  forests.  Large  portions  of  it  are  pecu- 
liarly favorable  to  the  growth  of  wheat,  barley,  and  the  other  cereals 
of  the  North. 

Within  thirty-five  years,  or  less  than  the  life-time  of  nearly  all  w^ho 
are  now  hearing  me,  the  population  of  Ontario  and  Quebec  has  in- 
creased about  fivefold,  or  from  582,000  to  2,812,367. 

THE  T'EOl'LE  OF  CANADA. 

The  population  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  and  the  other  posses- 
sions now  exceeds  four  millions,  being  more  than  that  of  Arkansas, 
California,  Delaware,  Florida,  Kansas,  Louisiana,  Maine,  Minnesota, 
Nebraska,  Nevada,  and  New  Hampshire,  added  together,  at  the  last 
census.  Many  of  their  inhabitants  are  of  French  extraction,  and  a 
few  German  settlements  exist ;  but  two-thirds  of  the  people  of  the 
provinces  owe  their  origin  either  to  the  United  States  or  to  the  Brit- 


.. 


N 


^^^ 


iHh  iHliiiulH,  whoso  laiiKuago  we  speak,  and  who  "  people  the  woi  Id 
with  men  iudustvimis  and  free."  The  identity  of  language  in  contig- 
uous countries  is  a  fair  exponent  of  the  tendency  to  anialgaination. 
It  generally  implies  great  Himilarity,  if  not  identity,  of  religion,  laws, 
and  habits,  the  essential  elements  of  thorough  fusion. 

NATURAL  COMMEUCIAL  UELATION. 

Apart  from  the  artiiicial  regulations  by  customs-duties,  the  ex- 
changes of  the  products  of  labor  between  the  people  of  the  United 
States  and  their  neighbors  on  the  north  would  bo  as  intiniate  and,  iu 
proportion  to  the  population,  at  least  as  various  and  comprehensive, 
asjthose  of  the  States  of  our  Union  with  each  other.  In  fact  the  com- 
mercial relations  of  our  northern,  northwestern,  and  eastern  States 
with  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  if  left  simply  and  without  obstruc- 
tion to  the  pvfictical  test  of  benelits  or  profits  given  and  received  by 
the  people  of  both  countries,  Avould  be  more  close  and  intimate  than 
those  between  most  parts  of  the  Union.  The  great  lakes,  which  for 
some  thousands  of  miles  politically  separate  us,  are  themselves  among 
the  cheapest  and  most  useful  nu-ans  of  intercommunication  for  the 
northwestern  and  eastern  StateH,and,  with  the  majestic  river  through 
wliich  their  waters  How,  have  long  furnished,  by  aid  of  short  canals, 
one  of  the  most  important  channels  of  trade  and  travel  from  the  in- 
terior to  the  ocean,  and  thence  to  the  chief  markets  of  the  world. 

Nearly  three-fonrths  of  the  people  of  the  Dominion  inhabit  a  terri- 
tory in  latitudes  south  of  our  boundaries  in  Maine  and  Minnesota. 
Across  this  region,  and  especially  the  peninsula  between  Lakes  Huron 
and  Michigan,  is  the  direct  line  of  communication  between  the  States 
of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut, 
and  New  York  on  the  one  side,  and  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota, 
and  all  our  Territories  west  of  them  on  the  other. 

IMI'ORTANC'E  OF  FREE  EXCHANGES  WITH  CANADA  TO  ALL  PAH  IS  OF  THE  UNION. 

Great  as  the  value  of  transit  through  Canada  is  to  our  people,  sim- 
ilar freedom  through  our  territory  is  perhaps  even  more  important  to 
the  Canadians.    Excepting  the  maritime  provinces,  the  whole  of  the 
British  North  American  possessions  until  they  approach  the  Pacific 
Ocean  is  dependent  upon  the  railroads,  canals,  rivers,  and  other  means 
of  communication  in  the  United  States  for  the  shortest  routes  to  the 
ocean.    Fortunately,  what  is  in  this  respect  almost  the  necessity  of 
the  Canadians  is  one  from  which  must  result  the  employment  of  our 
people  and  profit  to  our  forwarders  on  such  a  scale  that  it  will  confer 
conspicuous  national  benefit  upon  us  if  we  do  not  prevent  the  natural 
interests  of  the  people  from  attaining  due  and  harmonious  develop- 
ment.   More  than  that,  the  great  natural,  permanent  system  of  ex- 
changes is  between  the  North  and  South ;  their  productions  being 
necessarily  distinct,  and  modem  civilization  having  rendered  them 
practically  necessaries  of  life  to  the  people  of  each  region. 


8 


Rognrding  the  sultject  t'loiu  ii  broad  ii'.wl  uutional  point  of  view,  it 
is  iiiHtmotive  to  sec  how  great  and  varied  are  the  advantagen  that 
would  roHult  to  all  part^of  our  country  from  free  intorcourHO  with  the 
neighboring  nationm.  The  northorn  and  Honthern  partw  of  our  conti- 
nent pOHMCHH  special  and  distinct  advantages  for  producing  connnodi- 
ties  with  which  each  can  purchase  those  of  other  sections.  The  North- 
ern States,  for  instance,  need  fear  no  competition  with  Mexico  or  Cul)a 
in  manufactures  or  agriculture.  These  countries  would  purchase ,  in 
increased  quantities,  our  manufactures,  cereals,  meats,  and  tish,  while 
we  in  return  should  consume  more  of  their  sugar,  coffee,  fruits,  and 
otlier  tropical  productions.  The  agricultural  productions  of  Canada 
are  almost  identical  with  those  of  the  Northern  States,  but  would  be 
exchanged  for  our  own  manufactures,  and  for  the  products  of  warmer 
climates,  in  part  those  of  our  Southern  States  and  in  part  of  regions 
yet  farther  south,  whoso  products  would  thus  be  brought  through  our 
territory,  and  afford  employment  and  profit  to  our  people,  with  ad- 
vantages to  all  the  countries  which  would  be  parties  to  the  arrange- 
ment. Our  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  carrying  trade  would  alike 
be  benefited,  and  the  natural  operation  of  the  laws  of  traae  would 
necessarily  confer  corresponding  benefits  on  those  for  whom  our  work 
v'ould  be  done  and  with  whom  our  exchanges  would  be  nnide. 

The  trade  between  the  northern  and  southern  parts  of  this  conti- 
nent must  attain  enormous  pro))ortions.  It  is  very  desirable  for  our 
people  that  it  should  as  soon  as  possible  be  developed  to  the  utmost. 
Its  natni'fll  course  will  be  throut>h  the  central  or  intermediate  States, 
creating  in  them  commercial  interests  of  a  magnitude  which  it  is 
almost  impossible  now  to  calculate.  The  mutual  benefits  thus  given 
and  received  would  be  perpetually  diffused  and  circulate  in  every 
vein  and  artery  of  commerce  and  manufactures  throughout  the  Union 
and  be  accompanied  with  the  gratifying  knowledge  that  they  were 
derived  from  the  prosperity  of  our  neighbors  in  other  countries. 

KECU'UOCITY  APPROVED  BY  LEADIXO  STATESMEN  OF  UOTU  PARTIES. 

As  the  naturally  interdependent  commercial  relations  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada  arise  from  geographical  and  climatic  causes  wbich 
are  permanent  and  uncbangeable,  and  tbe  cost  of  labor  and  the  inter- 
est on  capital  in  both  countries  are,  reckoning  from  a  series  of  years, 
nearly  alike,  they  have  from  the  beginning  of  our  history  attracted 
the  attention  of  our  leading  statesmen  without  distinction  of  party. 

•During  the  Presidency  of  General  Jackson,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  when 
■writing  in  1.829  to  Mr.  McLane,  then  our  minister  at  the  court  of  St. 
James,  referring  especially  to  the  North  American  colonies,  said : 

The  policy  of  the  United  States  in  relation  to  their  commercial  inti  rcourse  with 
other  nations  is  fotinded  on  principles  of  perfect  equality  i  nd  reciprocity.  By  the 
adoption  of  these  principles  they  have  endeavored  to  relieve  themselves  from  the 
discussions,  discontents,  and  embarrassments  inseparable  from  the  imposition  of 


0 


l)iiril(>iiHitn)t<  (Ihciinilnalions.  Tlit'iHf  jtiinciplcH  wt>ri>  Hvowotl  wblli^  tlicy  w»<n(  ,v«'t 
Htrii;{KUiiU  {i>r  their  lii(li>|MMiilt'iK't^  nee  t'tiiiriU-d  in  tlmir  lirnt  trcuty,  uml  li.tvu  iMtoii 
iilhurvil  to  wltii  tiit«  niimt  Hcnipiiloiirt  tlilt'lity. 

The  exceptional  character  ot  our  natural  commercial  relatiotm  witli 
Canada  has  also  heen  dnly  oltwerv.^d  by  Home  of  the  inortt  eminent  ad- 
vocateH  of  what  i«  termed  .i  "  protective"  ixdiey.  One  ol'  tiie  chief 
argnmiMitH  iu  itn  favor  in  that  aji^aluMt  admitting;  the  products  uf 
*^  pauper  hibor  "  to  compete  with  theme  of  our  own  eitizen-s.  It  has  no 
f«)rce  in  reference  to  a  contij{i:ous  country,  from  whicli  j)eople  «an 
l)aHH  to  the  United  States  in  a  few  moments  or  at  nuwf  -i  few  hours. 
The  other  argument  of  tl»e  same  chiss  of  theoristM  is  derived  fnun  the 
importance  of  a  "  home  market."'  But  a  '*  home  nuirket  "  is  tlio  mar- 
ket nearest  home,  and  this  is  furnislied  by  tlie  respective  countries  to 
each  other  at  every  j .  int  of  their  coterminous  teiritory. 

Mr.Chiy,  who  wascalle*!  the  fatlier  of  the  '•  protective"  system,  duly 
appreciated  these  facts,  and  from  iiis  stand-])i)int  added  valuable  testi- 
mony to  the  uniformity  of  opinion  anions  American  statesmen  in  his 
time,  and  his  conviction  as  to  the  pdlicy  by  which  he  desiriiti  our  coun- 
try t«)  be  giiided. 

Tho  Govenimeut  of  tlio  United  Slatiw— 

Ho  said — 
lias  ahvays  iM'cn  iinxinus  that  the  traili'  lit'twccii  tln'in  anil  flic   niitisli  colonics 
ihould  bo  placed  nu  a  liberal  and  eqiiitaltle  basi^.     Then;  liax  not  been  a  moment 
mIucc  tho  adoption  of  tho  present  Constitution  when  they  have  uotbeou  willing  to 
api»ly  (o  it  j)rinclples  of  fair  reciprocity  and  o<iuid  competi'.  .u. 

As  time  has  passed  and  the  country  on  botl-  sides  of  the  frontier 
has  become  more  closely  inhabited,  farms,  villages,  and  cities  taking 
the  place  of  the  primeval  wilderness,  the  value  of  the  iutercourse  of 
the  people  has  immensely  increased.  When  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Van 
Dure; I  deemed  it  important  the  population  of  Canada  was  insigniti- 
cant.  It  is  now  larger  than  that  of  all  the  six  New  England  States 
added  together. 

The  interests  involved  and  the  benefits  each  country  can  confer 
upon  itself  bj  due  emancipation  of  its  industry  are  so  many  and  <d»- 
vious  that  they  will  continually  demand  discussion  until  thoy  are  fullj' 
settled  on  the  basis  of  perfect  freedom  and  our  trade  with  Canada  is 
as  unrestricted  as  that  of  our  ditierent  States  among  themselves.  It 
is  our  duty  to  regard  these  questions  practically,  avoiding  alike  on 
one  side  the  inconsiderate  haste  which  might  result  from  political 
sentimentality,  and  on  the  other  the  influence  of  the  absurd  and  per- 
nicious dogma  which  carried  to  its  logical  results  would  put  an  end 
to  all  trade,  individual  as  well  as  national,  that  whatever  is  profit- 
able to  others  must  be  injurious  to  ourselves. 

THE  MAGNnXbE  OF  CANADIAN  TRADE. 

The  modem  increase  of  facilities  of  commtuiicatiou  by  canals,  rail- 


10 


roads,  bridges,  stcaaiboatH,  telegraphs,  and  the  pres3,  assisting  the 
transfer  of  mercliaDdise;  the  travel  of  passengers,  and  the  free  inter- 
change of  thought  between  the  United  States  and  the  Dominion,  add 
to  the  poliey  enunciated  by  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Van  Bureu  a  value  w« 
cannot  estimate  too  highly.  The  commercial  spirit  iiuu  resolute  en- 
terprise of  the  Canadians  is  shown  no  less  by  the  attractions  tuey 
have  presented  to  immigration  and  the  consequent  increase  of  their 
l)opulation  than  by  the  fact  that  with  a  p«)pulati<»n  small  in  compari- 
son with  thfit  of  many  nations  in  the  Old  World  they  already  rank 
as  the  fourth  power  on  the  globe  in  the  extent  of  their  merchant 
shipping,  taking  precedence  in  its  extent  and  quality  of  all  countries 
except  Great  Britain,  the  United  States,  and  Germany. 

The  aggregateof  the  foreign  trade  of  Canada  in  1872-73  and  187:}--'74 
was  about  two  hundred  and  seventeen  millions,  each  year,  being 
considerably  more  than  one-sixth  of  all  the  importi^  and  domestic  and 
foreign  exports  of  the  United  States.  The  aggregate  of  our  foreign 
trade  in  1875  was  s^l, 219,434, .^44.  If  it  hs.d  been  as  large  as  that  of 
Canada  in  proportion  to  the  population  of  the  two  countries,  it  would 
have  exceeded  |2,400,000,000. 

OUn  TKADE  WITi;  CANADA. 

Notwithstanding  the  adverse  laws  in  both  countries,  preventing  a 
free  exchange  of  the  i>roducts  of  tlie  industry  of  their  people,  thus 
depriving  Canada  of  lier  natural  j  rosperity,  injuring  the  business  of 
many  of  our  States,  and  most  seriously  impeding  the  progress  of 
those  parts  of  our  country  which  are  near  the  Canadian  frontitr,  oui* 
exports  of  articles  the  growth,  produce,  and  manufacture  of  the 
United  States  to  Canada,  according  to  the  rejiort  of  the  Treasury 
Department,  amounted  in  lo73-'74  to  no  less  than  |4'2,505,914,  be- 
ing more  than  twenty  times  as  large  as  those  to  China,  whence  we 
draw  so  large  a  proportion  of  our  imports,  and  larger  thaw  our  ex- 
ports of  a  similar  character  to  any  country  in  the  world  excepting 
only  Great  Britain.  Germany,  and  France.  Our  exports  to  Canada 
of  goods  tif  foreign  origin  in  the  same  year  amounted  to  .$4,589,343, 
and  the  total  trade  with  her  to  at  least  the  v\ast  sum  of  185,253,108. 

Taking  the  official  statistics  of  Canada  as  the  tejt  of  our  exports  to 
the  Dominion,  the  value  of  onr  exports  was  much  larger,  those  entered 
for  consumption  there  having  amounted  to  $54,279,749,  and  our  imports 
to  $35,001,117— the  aggregate  trade  having  been  $90,524,000. 

In  1874-75  the  aggregate  of  our  domestic  exports  to  Canada,  as 
shown  in  the  Report  on  Commerce  and  JSfavigation,  including  the  ad- 
ditions on  page  410,  was  $49,900,285,  and  the  trade  Itetweeu  the  two 
countiies  amounted  altogether  to  $80,250,925. 

An  examination  of  our  exports  to  Canada  shows  thai  her  vali'e  as 
an  outlet  for  our  manufactures  has  long  been  much  underrated.  This 
has,  no  doubt,  arisen  in  p  irt  from  the  f  r  ct  that  we  compute  the  amount  of 


11 


our  exports  from  our  own  custom-lionse  statistics.  The-  e  are  tlip  best 
sources  we  have  of  information  as  to  our  imports,  on  which  accuracy 
is  exacteil  because  they  are  subject  to  duty  ;  but  tLere  is  no  such  ur- 
gency as  to  our  exports.  They  pass  from  our  side  of  the  lines  with- 
out much  attention  from  our  ofilicer.s.  Modern  political  economists 
and  statisticians  have  observed  the  operation  of  the  same  rule  in  va- 
rious countries,  and  regard  it  as  an  eftablished  axiom  that "  the  amount 
of  exjjort  is  always  less  exactly  registered  than  the  amount  of  import 
because  with  the  former  duty  is  but  rarely  levied.''  This  rule  applies 
with  peculiar  force  to  the  ordinary  data  furnished  by  the  ofiicial  re- 
ports of  the  commerce  and  navigation  of  the  United  States  so  far  as 
they  refer  to  Canada. 

In  1874  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  asked  the  attention 
of  the  national  Legislature  to  this  subject  and  repeated  his  request 
in  1875.  Ho  found  it  impracticable,  if  not  impossible,  to  obtain  full 
returns  of  merchandise  exported  to  tlie  provinces  of  Ontario  and 
Quebec.  Our  custom-house  returns  on  the  Canadian  border  are  nec- 
essarily defective,  in  part  for  want  of  legislation  requiring  persons 
exporting  merchandise  by  railway-cars  or  other  land-vehicles,  which 
have  long  been  used  in  the  transportation  of  merchandise  across  the 
Canadian  borders  to  file  full  manifests  of  such  merchandise  with  the 
collector  of  the  customs  as  is  required  in  the  case  of  all  exjiorts  to 
foreign  countries  in  vessels.  It  has  been  found  on  close  investigation 
into  th"?  facts  that  in  both  countries  the  accounts  of  imports  from 
each  into  the  other  are  the  more  accurate,  because  "the  customs-offi- 
cers of  both  are  constantly  on  the  alert  to  see  that  no  dutiable  mer- 
chandise ci'osses  the  border  without  paying  its  pi'escribed  impost." 

Upon  the  basis  thus  irrefutably  laiddowMi,  it  is  found  that  the  value 
of  articles  of  d.jmestic  production  exported  from  the  United  States 
to  Canada  in  1874  was  .$11,424,560,  and  in  1875  no  less  than  $15,660,281, 
in  addition  to  the  amounts  shown  by  our  own  official  records.  This 
enormous  amount  of  over  |27,000,<'U0  consisted  chietly  of  the  products 
of  the  mjinufactnring  industry  of  our  people,  and  I  desire  to  direct  to 
it  the  special  attention  of  those  who  fancy  an  extension  of  i<»ciprocal 
trade  with  Canada  would  be  injurious  to  the  manufacturing  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

LAUGE  IMPOKTS  OF  OCR  MANUFACTURES. 

One  of  the  most  efficient  and  beneficial  means  of  protecting  our 
manufactures  would  be  to  encourage  the  demand  for  them  in  Canada. 
Including  the  amounts  given  in  the  statement  of  the  quantities  and 
values  of  our  domestic  exports  in  the  official  records  of  the  Bureau  of 
Statistics,  and  the  additions  corrected  from  the  reports  furnished  by 
the  Canadian  commissioners  of  customs,  our  exports  last  year  of  our 
own  productions  to  the  j.  ominion  included  books  and  stationery  to  the 
value  of  !^794,840;  cotton  manufactures,  besides  raw  cotton,  $1,591,844; 


12 


musical  ihstruments,  $639,027  ;  leather  and  its  manufactures, $789,428; 
tobacco  and  its  manufactures,  $1,673,306 ;  refined  sugar  and  molasses, 
$1,988,733;  manufactures  of  iron  and  steol,  $6,833,649,  besides  other 
manufactures  to  the  value  of  many  millions.  Our  imports  during  the 
same  year  from  all  parts  of  the  Dominion  of  her  staple  productious 
of  wheat  and  flour  amounted  only  in  value  to  $363,317. 

If  we  can  export  our  manufactm-es  in  such  large  quantities  to  Can- 
ada when  impeded  by  her  present  tariff,  it  cannot  be  disputed  that 
we  should  increase  our  sales  of  them  if  they  were  admitted  at  lower 
rates  of  duty,  and  yet  more  if  they  were  admitted  free  of  all  duty 
whatever. 

THE  FOUMER  TREATY. 

The  treaty  of  1854  provided  for  a  reciprocal  trade  betweea  the 
United  States  and  the  Bridsh  North  American  possessions  in  certain 
articles,  consisting  mainly  of  the  unmanufactured  productions  ol  the 
farm,  forest,  miiies,  and  fisheries.  It  was  for  several  years  mutually 
satisfactory,  but  under  the  pressure  of  debt  and  the  need  of  increased 
revenue  the  Canadians  raised  the  duties  on  manufactured  goods  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  destroy  its  natural  effects  in  promoting  many 
branches  of  the  industry  of  our  people. 

The  Legislattire  of  the  State  of  New  York  passed  concurrent  reso- 
lutions complaining  of  the  tariff  thus  exacted  by  Canada  and  demand- 
ing a  revision  of  the  treaty,  but  expressing  approval  of  the  i>rinciple 
of  reciprocity  and  a  desire  for  an  extension  of  its  application.  It 
was  seen  that  unrestricted  trade  betw  een  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada must  bo  mutually  beneficial  for  the  same  reasons  as  make  it  de- 
sirable between  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  or  any  of  the  other 
States  in  the  Union. 

The  resolutions  of  the  State  of  New  York  asserted  that  "  free  com- 
mercial intercourse  between  the  United  States  and  the  British  North 
American  possessions,  developing  the  natural,  geographical,  and  other 
advantages  of  each  for  the  good  of  all,  is  conducive  to  the  present  in- 
terests of  each,  and  is  the  only  proper  basis  of  our  intercourse  for  all 
time  to  come  ;  "  and,  in  pursuance  of  the  request  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  that  Wi  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  should  t"ke 
such  stejis  as  would  regulate  the  commerce  and  navigation  between 
the  two  countries  in  such  manner  as  to  render  the  same  reciprocally 
beneficial  and  satisfactory,  I  moved  in  the  House  cf  Representatives 
that  the  President  of  the  United  States  should  be  authorized  and  re- 
quired to  give  notice  to  the  British  government  that  the  treaty  of 
commerce  then  existing,  as  to  the  British  Isorth  American  colonies, 
would  be  terminated  at  the  earliest  date  legally  permitted,  but  that 
the  President  should  be  authorized  to  appoint  three  commissioners 
for  the  revision  of  said  treaty,  and  to  confer  with  other  commissioners 
duly  authorized  therefor,  whenever  it  should  appear  to  be  the  wish  of 


■\ "  *.' ; 


13 


the  government  of  Great  Britain  to  negotiate  a  new  treaty  between 
the  governments  and  the  people  of  hoth  countries,  based  upon  the 
true  princij/les  of  reciprocity,  and  for  the  removal  of  existing  diffi- 
culties. 

HECirROCITY  APPROVED  IIY  COXGKESS. 

The  preamble  declared  that  inequality  and  injustice  existed  in  our 
present  intercourse  with  Canada,  subversive  of  the  true  intent  of  the 
treaty,  owing  to  the  legislation  of  Canada  after  the  treaty  had  been 
adopted,  and  that  it  was  desirable  that  friendly  relations  should  be 
entertained  between  the  United  States  and  the  British  North  Ameri- 
can provinces,  and  that  commercial  intercourse  should  be  thereafter 
carried  on  between  them  upon  principles  reciprocally  beneficial  and 
satisfactory  to  both  parties. 

A  motion  to  lay  the  preamble  and  resolution  on  the  table  was  re- 
jected by  a  vote  of  76  to  73.  Thus  the  House  refused  to  terminate 
tlie  treaty  unconditionally.  A  notice  simply  to  abrogate  the  treaty 
was  voted  down,  and  the  preamble,  which  .asserted  that  '•ommerclal 
iutercourse  between  the  United  States  and  the  British  North  Ameri- 
can provinces  should  be  hereafter  carried  oix  between  them  upon 
principles  rtciprocally  beneficial  and  satiKfactory,  was  .adopted ;  and 
the  resolution  would  also  have  been  carried  if  a  few  members  who 
together  with  their  constituents  were  conspicuously  in  favor  of  and 
especially  interested  in  the  utmost  possible  freedom  of  exchanges  be- 
tween the  two  countries  had  not  been  induced  to  believe  that  they 
would  .obtain  better  terms  by  postponement  to  the  next  session  of 
Congress.  But  the  postponement  was  only  adopted  by  a  majority  of 
5  out  of  159  votes. 

Just  before  the  time  for  reconsideration  arrived  the  war  feeling  had 
attained  increased  intensity,  and  the  exigencies  and  temper  of  the 
occasion  threw  all  commercial  considerations  temporarily  aside. 

CANADIAN  TARIFF. 

Since  that  time  the  Canadian  tariff  has  undergone  great  and  liberal 
changes.  Very  many  of  the  articles  on  which  we  charge  duties  almost 
prohibitory  are  admitted  free  of  all  duty  into  Canada,  and  her  old 
tariff  of  25  or  30  per  cent,  has  bteu  reduced  to  a  general  rate  of  17| 
on  manufactures,  and  can  no  longer  be  a  subject  for  complaint  of  in- 
justice on  our  part  while  Ave  charge  40  or  60  i)er  cent.  We  now  ap- 
proach the  whole  subject  under  new  and  favorable  auspices. 

0U8TACLE8  TO  COMPLETE  RECIPROCITY. 

As  the  exports  of  Canada  consist  chiefly  of  raw  productions  of  the 
farm  and  forest,  of  which  we  export  little  for  actual  consumption  in 
Canada,  the  admission  of  these  articles  free  of  duty  by  each  country 
into  the  territory  of  tha  other  is  not  the  most  just  or  desirable  form 
of  reciprocity.    To  i>laco  our  tr  ide  with  the  Dominion  on  a  sat.sfac- 


14 

tory  basis,  mauufacturos  also  should  he  admitted  free  of  duty  from 
each  country  into  the  other.  But  to  ett'ect  this  it  is  necessary  that  no 
higher  duty  should  be  levied  in  one  country  than  in  the  other  on  iron, 
silk,  wool,  and  the  other  materials  of  manufactures.  Without  this  the 
country  admitting  them  at  low  duties,  or  without  any,  would  mani- 
festly be  able  to  undersell  the  other  if  it  continued  such  duties  as  it 
might  deem  necessary  for  its  revenue  or  prudent  for  the  protection 
of  its  labor  against  the  competition  of  countries  under  diflfereut  social 
and  monetary  conditions. 

The  best  arrangement  of  reciprocal  trade  between  the  two  countries 
must  include  more  or  less  the  manufactured  as  well  as  the  raw  pro- 
ductions of  each,  thus  giving  mutual  encouragement  to  various  and 
diflfering  industries  on  both  sides  of  the  line  and  permitting  labor  in 
each  to  adjust  itself  to  the  most  advantageous  employments.  The 
United  States  have  never  yet  made  decisive  eflforts  to  secure  the  ben- 
efits thus  within  their  grasp. 

If  such  a  system  of  reciprocal  exchanges  could  be  extended  to 
manufactured  productions,  both  countries  would  assuredly  profit. 
The  first  etiect  might  seem  detrimental  to  special  interests  in  both, 
but  a  natural  equilibrium  would  soon  establish  itself,  producing  con- 
ditions under  which  capital  and  labor  would  be  applied  to  the  best 
advantages.  It  would  be  found  what  each  country  can  produce  bet- 
ter and  more  cheaply  for  the  other  than  the  latter  can  for  itself,  and 
under  such  circumstances  each  would  obviously  be  the  gainer  by  mu- 
tual exchanges.  It  is  the  nature  of  ti'ade  that  it  will  not  long  be  con- 
tinued unless  all  the  parties  gain  by  it.  Both  as  producers  and  con- 
sumers the  people  of  each  country  would  profit  by  such  an  economical 
adjustment  of  aff'airs. 

As  many  manufactures  in  both  countries  are  made  of  materials  im- 
liorted  from  various  parts  of  the  world,  it  would  manifestly  be  im- 
possible to  establish  a  completely  free  system  of  commercial  inter- 
course with  Canada,  except  under  duties  not  only  corresponding  but 
also  equitably  divided  on  the  productions  of  other  countries.  This  is 
the  chief  obstacle  to  any  fair,  mutually  advantageous,  and  complete 
arrangement  of  reciprocity  .between  us. 

If,  for  instance,  wearing-apparel,  of  which  we  formerly  sold  large 
quantities  to  the  Canadians,  were  included  in  a  list  of  free  exchanges 
between  us  and  them,  without  any  more  fundamental  and  compre- 
hensive change,  Canada,  by  admitting  free  of  duty  wool,  or,  if  she 
chose,  cloth  and  the  other  articles  used  in  making  the  apparel,  could 
undersell  us  so  far  as  to  drive  us  out  of  our  own  markets.  The  prin- 
ciple thus  illustrated  is  applicable  to  almost  all  other  manufactures. 
The  materials  for  manufactures  of  wood,  wool,  and  iron  are  already 
brought  into  Canada  either  free  of  all  imports  or  under  nominal  du- 
ties for  the  purpose  of  enoouraging  cheap  production.    There  is 


■  '".«•-, 


15 


nothing  to  prevont  tbeir  bniig  admitted  wholly  free.  Undor  these 
circumstances  the  Canadian  niauiitacturers  wouM  have  ati  unjust 
advantage  over  those  of  our  own  country.  On  our  side  we  might  re- 
verse all  this  by  a  lower  tariff  or  a  system  of  bounties.  But  if  the 
matei'isils  of  manufactures  were  admitted  on  the  same  terms  into  the 
United  States  and  the  Dominion  and  an  equitable  distribution  made 
of  the  revenues,  the  manufactures  of  each  might  safely  and  profitably 
be  admitted  into  the  other.  In  fact,  with  our  larger  capital  and  more 
advanced  manufactories  we  should  have  an  advantage  in  the  compe- 
tition, while  it  would  also  inure  to  the  benelit  of  the  Canadian  people. 

INTEUESTS  OF  OCU  MKUrifAXT  FORWAUDEUS. 

Manufactures  are  not  the  only  form  of  industry  which  is  worthy 
of  consideration.  The  interests  of  our  merchants  and  forwarders,  as 
well  as  the  people  of  Canada,  are  seriously  injured  by  the  present  ob- 
stacles to  their  intercourse.  There  is  a  great  difference  between  a 
bonded  system  and  a  system  oi  perfect  freedom,  as  to  exi>()rts  or  im- 
ports. The  annoyances,  vexations,  and  delays  necessarily  attached 
to  any  bonded  system  are  often  sufficient  in  this  day  of  easy  commu- 
nication to  turn  away  business  from  its  natural  an<l  best  center.  It 
is  also  to  be  remembered  that  hitherto  the  Govenuueut  of  the  United 
States  has  not  thought  it  expedient  to  refund  duties  on  the  re-ex- 
portation of  foreign  merchandise  in  less  quantities  than  the  orijjiual 
package,  thus  creating  an  obstacle,  of  ten  amounting  to  prohibition, 
to  the  jobbing  and  retailing  of  goods. 

That  the  mere  adoption  of  the  ^^an1e  rates  of  duties  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  on  articles  imported  from  other  countries  would 
not  be  politic  is  evident  on  the  ground  that  customs-revenue  is  chieHj' 
collected  in  a  few  ports,  although  ultimately  paid  by  the  consumers, 
often  in  very  remote  parts  of  the  country. 

A  CUSTOMS  UMOX  SUGGE.STEb. 

All  these  difficulties  might  be  solved  by  adopting  the  principles 
embodied  in  the  Zollvereiu  or  Prussian  confederacy  of  the  German 
states,  with  such  modifications  as  may  be  found  expedient  '.)etween 
ourselves  and  the  Cana<liaus.  By  this  course  both  can  obtain  all  tlie 
commercial  advantages  of  union  without  political  entanglement, 
leaving  each  country  free  to  practice  in  its  own  self-government  such 
rules  as  it  believes  to  be  -most  iu  accordance  with  the  genius  of  its 
people,  aud  best  adapted  to  promote  its  own  interests. 

Previous  to  the  adoption  of  the  Zollvereiu,  it  had  been  the  misfor- 
tune of  Germany  to  be  divided  into  a  large  number  of  independent 
states — most  of  them  of  petty  dimensions  and  small  population — every  . 
one  having  distinct  custom-houses,  tariff"  and  revenue  laws,  often 
differing  very  widely  from  those  of  the  neighbors  surrounding  it. 
Sometimes  one  part  of  a  state  was  separated  from  its  other  parts,  and 


IG 


was  na  a  comiuercial  island  encompassed  by  states  having  different 
laws.  The  condition  was  snch  as  would  have  existed  in  New  York 
or  any  other  of  our  States,  if  each  of  the  difterent  counties  had  been 
commercially  divided  from  the  rest,  and  the  inhabitants  of  one  coun- 
ty could  not,  without  paying  heavy  imposts,  pass  into  another  with 
a  horse,  ox,  or  load  of  grain,  the  product  of  their  own  farms,  or  take 
imported  goods  into  any  of  the  counties  adjoining  their  own,  and  the 
difficulty  continually  increased  on  passing  through  additional  coun- 
ties. Thus  the  inland  trade  of  Germany  Avas  subjected  to  all  the 
restrictions  that  are  usuallv  laid  on  the  intercourse  between  distant 
and  independent  states. 

I'lUXCiri-ES  OK  THE  ZOLLVEREIX. 

The  principle  of  the  Znllverein  or  customs  union  is  that  there  shall 
be  entire  and  unrestricted  freedom  of  imports,  exports,  and  transit 
among  all  the  states  which  are  its  members.  The  same  duties  are  col- 
lected on  the  outside  frontier  of  the  states  thus  united.  Within  that 
line  all  trade  is  as  uutrameled  as  within  our  present  Union.  An 
etjnitable  distribution  of  the  revenue  thus  obtaired  is  made  among 
all  the  states  of  the  confederation. 

The  ZoUverein  is  comi>rehensively  defined  to  be  the  association  of 
a  number  of  states  for  the  establishment  of  a  common  customs  law 
and  customs  line  with  regard  to  foreign  countries,  and  for  the  sup- 
pression of  both  in  the  intercourse  of  the  States  within  the  border  line. 
There  would  be  no  impediment  by  discriminating  duties  on  the  im- 
portations for  Toronto  if  made  via  New  York  or  Boston.  If  the  mer- 
chants of  Chicago  found  it  to  their  interest  to  purchase  at  Montreal, 
they  could  do  so ;  and  buyers  from  the  new  province  of  Manitoba 
might  buy  and  sell  at  Saint  Paul, Du  Luth,  Saint  Louis,  or  New  Orleans^ 
as  freely  as  at  Halifax  or  any  city  in  the  Dominion.  The  merchants  of 
British  Columbia  would  buy  and  sell  in  the  markets  of  San  Francisco 
as  freely  and  with  as  little  hindrance  as  in  those  of  their  own  coun- 
try. All  means  of  transit  would  be  entirely  open  to  the  people  of 
both  countries,  and  those  most  conducive  to  the  public  welfare  would 
take  the  trade.  Internal-revenue  laws  could,  so  far  as  necessary,  be 
made  in  conformity  with  the  principles  of  the  Union.  There  could 
be  fair  and  complete  competition  everywhere  within  the  confedera- 
tion, and  full  scope  could  be  given  to  the  development  of  natural  ad- 
vantages wherever  they  would  bring  profit  to  the  merchant  and  save 
needless  labor  of  the  people  or  yield  remunerative  employment  to 
them. 

SiKETCH  OF  THE  GEUMAN  ZOLLVEREIX. 

Ti)e  German  ZoUverein  began  in  1818,  considerably  more  than  half 
a  century  ago.  Its  progress  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  the  excellence  of 
the  principles  it  embodies  and  of  the  mode  by  which  they  are  carried 
into  effect.    The  enlightened  state  of  Prussia  was  the  originator  and 


17 

loader  in  the  movement,  by  forming  a  commercial  union  with  a  few 
minor  states ;  the  whole  population  thus  included  being  at  first  only 
nineteen  millions.  The  experience  of  the  benefits  thus  created  is  so 
satisfactory,  that  the  best  publicists  of  Europe  believe  that  Prussia 
thus  conferred  upon  the  German  people  advantages  scarcely  inferior 
to  those  she  initiated  by  the  diftusion  of  education  and  intelligence. 
It  not  only  promoted  the  industry  and  prosperity  of  the  allied  statea 
more  than  any  other  measure  or  sets  of  measures  that  their  govern- 
ments could  have  devised,  but  it  was  found  that  the  increase  of  wealtli 
and  population  thus  arising  created  an  additional  demand  for  foreign 
products. 

Whatever  opposition  there  is  to  unembarrassed  intercourse  with 
Canada  proceeds  mainly  from  a  fear  lest  it  might  revolutionize  our 
tariff  or  injure  our  revenue.  It  is  well  to  remind  the  alarmists  who 
raise  this  outcry  that  such  results  are  no  necessary  consequence  of  an 
American  zollverein.  So  far  as  the  Zollverein  of  Germany  is  a  pre- 
cedent, such  apprehensions  are  entirely  groundless.  As  Prussia  was 
the  largest  and  most  populous  country  when  the  Zollverein  was  be- 
gun, her  tariff  was  adopted ;  and  owing  to  increased  prosperity  and 
the  consequently  increased  consumption  of  tax-paying  articles,  the 
revenue  of  Prussia  rose  about  30  per  cent,  in  the  four  years  next  fol- 
lowing the  amalgamation  of  the  North  German  and  South  German 
States  into  one  grand  union  on  the  1st  of  January,  1834. 

In  1865  the  benefits  of  the  German  Zollverein  had  become  so  well 
proved  and  appreciated,  that  instead  of  the  three  original  states  or 
duchies  it  included  fourteen,  witili  a  population  of  nearly  36,000,000. 

The  solidity  and  cohesive  po\v.er  of  the  Zollverein  were  decisively 
tested  in  the  war  which  began  between  Prussia  and  Austria  in  1866. 
The  governments  of  the  North  German  states  included  in  the  union 
sided  with  Austria,  and  it  was  feared  that  a  dissolution  of  the  Zoll- 
verein would  ensue,  but,  says  one  of  the  historians  of  the  time,  the  ex- 
traordinary spectacle  was  presented  that  while  "  its  component  parts 
were  waging  open  war  with  each  other,  its  custom-house  authorities 
remained  in  their  functions  in  the  general  name  and  received  and 
divided  the  revenue  moneys  in  the  general  name,  a  spectacle  which 
surprised  nobody  in  Germany,  but  caused  general  astonishment 
abroad  as  something  quite  incomprehensible.  German  nationality, 
and  the  inner  conservingpower  which  animates  the  Zollverein  received 
hereby  the  most  glorious  confirmation." 

After  the  war  of  1866  the  German  states  to  the  south  of  the  river 
Main,  having  preserved  their  independence,  were  not  under  any  obli- 
gation to  renew  the  Zollverein,  but  preferred  to  continue  members  of 
it.  In  1867  a  new  Zollverein  treaty  was  concluded  between  the  states 
of  the  North  German  Confederation  and  the  North  German  states,  the 
scope  of  which  extended  to  the  whole  of  Germany  except  Austria. 
2  W 


II  *# 


lllfi 


HiK 


18 

Even  with  Austria  a  liberal  and  comprehensive  treaty  was  eftbctedin 
18G8,  mutually  reducing  duties  on  both  sides  and  abolishing  all  transit 
duties  and  nearly  all  those  on  exjjorts. 

A  traveler  wlio  has  croHscd  the  outer  hue  is  freed  from  the  vexations  of  the  don- 
anier  in  every  part  of  Germany,  and  may  proceed  witiiout  interruption  f i-om  Bel- 
gium to  tlie  frontier  of  RiisHia,  and  from  Tyrol  t«  the  ]hiUic,  a  distance  of  seveu 
hundred  or  eight  hundred  miles,  including  a  population  of  70,000,000. 

MUTUAL  BENEFIT  OF  A  CUSTOMS  UNION. 

Until  the  Canadians  are  ready  for  annexation  to  the  United  States 
by  their  own  appreciation  of  republican  institutions,  no  solution  of  the 
conunen^ial  (juestions  at  issue  between  us  and  them  can  be  complete 
except  by  means  of  a  customs  nnion.  I,  for  one,  am  not  desirous  of 
incorporating  in  our  political  union  4,000,000  of  pcojde  who  desire 
a  form  of  government  essentially  distinct  from  our  own.  But  it  by 
no  means  follows  that  we  and  they  should  not  mutually  develop  in 
harmony  our  material  interests  and  regard  them  and  the  character  of 
our  respective  populations  as  a  basis  on  which  such  future  political 
arrangements  may  be  made  as  time  may  prove  to  be  wise.  The 
quality  of  grain  or  lumber  and  the  desirability  of  selling  or  purchas- 
ing manufactures  are  utterly  independent  of  the  political  preferences 
of  the  producers  or  consumers,  and  on  neither  side  can  natural  pros- 
perity be  promoted  by  chronic  commercial  jealousy. 

It  is  evident  that  the  policy  I  advocate  would  tend  to  lessen  the 
hostility  of  diirerently  instituted  governments,  while  it  would  not  in- 
terfere with  the  political  institutions  of  any,  and  that  a  strong  bias 
toward  the  most  friendly  relations  on  other  points  must  natui'ally 
arise  upon  the  basis  of  mutual  pecuniary  interests  and  intimate  social 
intercourse. 

THAT   •'  llALAXCE  OF  TKADE." 

Meeting  upon  their  own  ground  the  theorists  who  regard  "a  bal- 
ance of  trade  in  our  favor"  as  the  chief  test  of  the  benefits  of  com- 
mercial exchanges  with  any  single  country,  I  iiud  that,  according  to 
the  reports  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  there  appears  to  have 
been  during  the  thirteen  years  when  a  treaty  for  the  reciprocal  ex- 
change of  grain,  lumber,  and  many  other  natural  productions  existed, 
a  balance  in  our  favor  amounting  to  some  $83,000,000,  and  that  ever 
since  the  termination  of  the  treaty  until  1874,  when  the  pressure  on 
our  alfairs  tended  to  force  sales  at  low  prices,  there  has  been  a  balance 
against  the  United  States  in  the  trade  with  the  Dominion.  So  much 
for  the  present  exclusive  policy  in  comparison  with  the  more  liberal 
but  incomplete  system  under  the  treaty,  judging  them  from  the  ordi- 
nary stand-point  of  many  protectionists. 

Since  the  termination  of  the  treaty  the  proportion  of  the  trade  of 
Canada  with  this  country  in  comparison  with  the  whole  foreign  trade 
has  been  reduced  from  52  to  35  per  cent.,  until  the  necessities  of  our 


I 


la 


people  compelled  them  to  part  with  the  products  of  their  labor  at  re- 
duced priccH. 

The  tariff  of  Canada  is  moderate  as  compared  with  our  own ;  hut, 
in  oonuectiou  with  our  taxation  of  many  materials,  it  is  enough  to 
have  caused  some  important  branches  of  manufacture,  notably  th«)80  of 
wood-screws  and  musical  instruments,  to  be  lately  transferred  by  our 
own  citizens  to  the  other  side  of  the  northern  frontier,  where  they  are 
not  only  established  for  the'supply  of  the  people  of  the  Dominion,  but, 
if  we  Tsist  in  our  present  course,  will  undoubtedly  at  no  distant 
date  compete  on  terms  favorable  to  the  Canadians  in  neutral  markets 
with  the  jjroducts  of  our  own  labor  on  a  very  extensive  scale  and  in 
many  various  manufactures. 

THE  IlKAL  UALANCK. 

While  it  is  desirable  to  onconraj;e  as  far  as  we  are  able  the  sales  of 
our  manufactures  to  Canada,  it  is  always  to  bo  remembered  that  the 
trade  between  that  country  and  the  United  States  is  to  a  considera- 
ble extent  one  of  transit  or  carrying  to  other  countries,  and  thus 
"what  is  called  "  a  balance"  against  us,  which  is  really  an  advantage, 
may  exist,  because  it  may  merely  represent  what  we  have  bought  from 
one  country  to  sell  at  a  profit  to  others.  If  our  merchants  buy  the 
bulky  productions  of  Canada  to  the  extent  of  many  millions  and  carry 
them  through  our  own  country  to  our  sea-ports,  they  give  employment 
to  our  laborers,  create  a  domaiul  for  the  products  of  our  farmers,  rfiid 
cause  the  expenditure  and  employment  of  vast  sums  of  money  among 
our  traders  and  capitalists,  while  the  articles  thus  carried  and  ex- 
ported stand  to  our  credit  and  profitably  swell  the  balance  in  onr 
favor  in  otlier  countries,  being  at  least  as  valuable  in  our  exchanges 
with  the  rest  of  the  Avorld  as  if  they  were  gold  or  silver. 

The  Canadians,  understand) 3ig  this  natural  operation  of  the  simple 
laws  of  business  and  carrying  it  into  their  afttiirs.of  state,  have,  with 
an  enlightened  self-interest,  attemi)ted  to  diminish  what  might  by 
more  short-sighted  economists  be  called  "  the  balance  in  their  favor," 
by  admitting  onr  wheat,  flour,  corn,  oats,  barley,  pease,  and  many  other 
productions  entirely  free  of  all  duty.  They  would  like  the  exchange 
to  be  much  more — as  some  of  our  doctrinaires  would  call  it — "  against 
them."  The  more  of  our  wheat,  corn,  and  flour  they  buy,  or,  in  other 
words,  "  the  larger  the  balance  against  them,"  the  more  their  shipping 
and  canals,  and  with  them  their  merchants  and  the  rest  of  thair  pop- 
ulation, prosper.  Wo  take  the  other  course,  and  by  way  of  fancied 
"protection"  levy  a  duty  of  twenty  cents  a  bnshel  on  their  wheat, 
fifteen  cents  on  their  barley,  ten  cents  on  their  oats-  20  per  cent,  on 
their  flour,  and  from  10  to  20  per  cent,  on  their  pease.  ' 

-;  Under  the  treaty,  the  quantities  of  grain  exchanged  between  the 
two  countries  were  almost  exactly  equal.  In  1874  our  exports  of  grain 
and  breadstuff's  to  the  Dominion,  exclusive  of  barley,  for  which  wo 


20 


m 

i 


pny  Ciinada  u  lu-tter  price  than  slio  can  find  cIhowIuto,  ainonnted  to 
$ir>,477,r)74,  wliilo  the  importH  of  th«  cornsNpoiuliiijj  artichiH  were 
$!3,47;},:ir)2,  showini?  what  is  called  "  a  halance  in  our  favor  "  of  ^13,004,- 
322;  otir  exports  of  f^rain  and  hreadstufts  to  Canada,  as  thus  shown, 
beinj;,  in  conHO([nenco  of  our  duties  on  her  products  and  her  exemp- 
tion of  ours,  more  than  four  times  as  large  as  our  imports  from  her. 
This  "  balance  in  our  favor"  shows  that  we  expel  the  trade  in  certain 
classes  of  product*  from  our  shipping,  railroads,  elevators,  and  waro- 
hcmses  with  incalculable  injury  to  all  classes  of  our  people  and  force 
it  into  Canadian  channels.  This  is  more  fully  shown  by  the  official 
reports  of  Canada,  where  it  appears  that  in  the  same  year  nearly 
twenty-one  millions  of  bushels  of  grain  were  certainly  exported  from 
that  country,  being  between  six  and  seven  millions  of  bushels  more 
than  her  imports. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  purchases  of  grain  by  Canada  are  for  re-ex- 
portation, either  directly  or  for  such  consumption  as  leaves  a  corre- 
sponding surplus  on  her  own  side  for  exportation.  No  bonded  system 
egarding  grain  from  Canada  can  afford  such  facilities  for  profits  by 
our  merchants,  millers,  carriers,  and  others  as  would  arise  from  free 
and  untrammeled  trade  in  it. 

WK  DIUVE  AWAY  THE  ThADE  WE  MIGHT  ATTRACT. 

The  enlargement  of  the  Canadian  canals,  with  a  view  yet  fuvthor 
to  draw  away  from  this  country  the  transit  of  its  own  productions 
and  trade  in  them  is  at  the  present  moment  going  on,  and  that  on  a 
magnificent  scale.  In  1855,  the  year  after  the  treaty  went  into  oper- 
ation, as  soon  as  routes  and.  markets  of  the  United  States  were  opened 
freely  to  the  grain.  Hour,  aiul  timber  of  Canada,  the  trade  by  way  of 
the  Saint  Lawrence  was  $18,469,528,  or  not  much  more  than  half  its 
amount  in  *he  previous  year.  The  decrease  was  .$15,203,600,  and  a 
corresponding  amount  was  transferred,  to  other  carriers,  for  the  Cana- 
dian trade  in  the  United  States  increased  in  the  same  time  |15,856,624, 
or  from  |24,97 1,096  to  $40,827,720.  In  view  of  these  facts,  tha  urgency 
of  removing  from  those  who  are  employedon  our  railroads,  rivers,  and 
canals  the  restrictions  imposed  on  them  by  duties  on  Canadian  grain, 
and  placing  them  on  an  equal  footing  with  their  foreign  competitors, 
cannot  be  reasonably  disputed. 

If  we  bought  from  Canada  every  bushel  of  wheat  that  she  now  ex- 
ports to  other  countries,  the  demand  in  those  countries  would  remain 
the  same.  The  difference  would  chiefly  be  that  after  paying  for  it  in 
the  products  of  our  labor,  we  should  send  it  or  its  equivalent  "to  the 
present  consumers  and  that  we  should  do  the  business  and  make  the 
jiroflts  now  made  by  the  Canadians.  If  there  should  be  what  some 
call  "  a  balance  against  us  "  with  Canada,  it  would  be  more  than  made 
up  through  the  amounts  placed  to  our  credit  by  our  sales  to  other 
couutrlea. 


AX  INCHEA8RI)  SLTJ'Lr  OF  I'HOVIMOXi*. 

Mniiily  for  tliose  nKiit'ultnral  iiroductioiis  whicli  nrc  not  "  poriHh- 
al)li> "  and  will  boar  tranHportation  the  niarketHof  tho  world  at  larj;o 
regnlato  our  own.  The  prices  alike  of  grain  and  dairy  productH  are 
tranHniittcd  by  cable  and  eagerly  examined  by  the  dealers  in  them  on 
tluH  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  free  admission  of  those  artich'S  into 
this  country  will  stimulate  industry  without  reducing  general  prices, 
not  only  through  increasing  the  business  of  our  railroads,  canals,  riv- 
ers, and  sea-ports,  but  by  furnishing  them  to  consumoi's  os  nearly  as 
possible  to  the  places  where  they  are  produced,  and  by  passing  theui 
through  the  hands  of  the  fewest  intermediate  dealers.  There  are  also 
many  agricultural  products — notably  animals  and  fresh  meats — which 
might  profitably  bo  exchanged  by  Canada  for  our  nmnufactures,  thus 
furnishing  an  increased  and  cheaiicr  supply  of  provisions  to  our  people, 
who,  nnder  the  system  I  advocate,  would  pay  for  them  in  the  prod- 
ucts of  their  looms  and  workshops. 

Even  as  to  these  articles  many  errors  are  current.  It  appears  from 
the  tables  published  by  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  that  last  year  our 
imports  describc^d  as  animals  from  the  British  Anu'rican  colonies 
amounted  to  $l,987,2VA,  and  those'of  meats,  butter,  cheese,  poultry, 
lard,  «fec.,  to  ^533,886;  a  total  of  §2,521,117.  Au  outcry  is  raised  that 
our  farmers  are  oppressed  by  these  inundations  of  provisions.  But 
their  amount  is  little  more  than  equal  to  our  exports  of  meats  alone  to 
Canada.  Their  amount  is  no  less  than  §2,4.57,904.  Of  animals,-meat8, 
butter,  cheese,  lard,  and  tallow  only  our  exports  to  the  same  country 
wore  $4,398,000,  or  aboxit  two  millions  more  than  our  imports. 

FKRE  TRADE  IK  COAL. 

It  would  be  improper  to  pass  without  examination  our  trade  with 
Canada  in  coal,  an  article  which  is  one  of  the  essential  elements  of 
manufactures,  and  in  the  North  becoming  daily  more  and  more  one 
of  the  prime  necessaviesof  human  life.  It  is  found  in  abundanceon  the 
sea-coast  of  Canada,  whence  it  is  advantageously  exported  to  the  New 
England  States  and  New  York.  But  it  is  not  found  in  the  interior 
and  well-settled  parts  of  the  Dominion.  They  depend  on  our  mines 
for  a  supply,  and  obtain  it,  free  of  all  duties,  principally  from  Penn- 
sylvania, Virginia,  and  Ohio.  Anthracite  coal  is  extensively  imported 
into  the  maritime  provinces.  Altogether,  regarding  the  subject  from 
a  national  point  of  view,  our  imports  of  coal  last  year  from  Canada 
amounted  to  $697,673,  and  our  exports  to  her  were,  as  shown  by  our 
own  returns  alone,  $2,034,527.  The  imports,  taking  a  series  of  years, 
are  nearly  stationary ;  but  our  exports  increase  enormously,  and  in 
the  last  three  years  were  $7,272,964,  not  far  from  four  times  as  large 

"  as  in  the  three  years  from  1863  to  1867.  Under  these  circumstances 
any  imposition  of  duty  on  coal  from  the  Dominion  is  evidently  unjust, 
favorable  only  to  petty  local  interests  at  the  cost  of  important  com- 


22 


il 


III 

1 . 

■ 

1 

innn'.tloM  aii<l  contrary  to  the  Bpirit  in  \«'liich  onoli  purt  of  the  Union 
shouhl  regard  all  tliu  oIIum'h. 

WK   I'AV  Ol'U  OWN  TAXKH. 

Ankt)ng  our  largest  iuiportM  from  Canada,  tinil>«!r  i»  probably  on  tho 
whole  tho  one  most  neciCMHary  to  our  citizeuH.  It  fornm  a  jtart  of  every 
liouHO  in  city  and  country.  It  Ih  directly  or  indirectly  a  part  of  alnumt 
every  manufacture,  u  '  tho  cost  of  the  home  of  every  workman  in  the 
manufacturing  parts  i.  our  country  dependH  upon  its  price.  Consitl- 
ored  with  regard  to  the  taritVaud  its  "  protective"  character,  lumber 
is  unlike  any  other  article.  Our  iron-ore  being  inexhaustible,  the  pro- 
duction of  that  metal  may  be  stimulated  to  any  extent.  The  more 
there  is  made  of  it  the  more  can  be  made.  The  same  is  true  of  man- 
ufactures of  wool  ami  cotton,  or  of  those  articles  themselves.  Looms, 
hheop,  and  cotton  plantations  can  bo  almost  indefinitely  multiplied, 
liut,  for  all  intents  and  piirposcs,  a  high  price  for  lumber  is  not  only  a 
tax  on  tho  people,  but  stimiilutes  present  production  with  the  abso- 
lute certainty  of  speedy,  spendthrift,  exhaustion  of  the  supply.  IJy 
duties  on  Camidiau  lumber  wo  simply  exhaust  our  resotirces  and  pay 
for  drawing  wh;vi  we  need  from  places  remote  or  diflicult  of  access 
when  we  might  get  it  easier  elsewhere.  It  would  be  even  more  rea- 
sonable to  dig  holes  aiid  fill  them  up  again  thau  to  indulge  in  this 
delrsive  and  extravagant  legislation. 

There  has  been  a  too  comniou  belief  that  by  duties  on  the  produc- 
tions of  Canada  we  make  her  people  pay  our  taxes.  Perhaps  the 
fallacy  yet  1  ugers  in  some  minds.  The  fact  that  we  have  destroyed 
onr  importations  of  wheat  and  Hour  from  Canada,  and  that  she  now 
sends  her  surplus  together  with  nmcli  of  our  own  to  other  markets, 
may  convince  of  their  error  some  of  those  who  have  imagined  she 
must  depend  upon  us  for  the  sales  of  her  productions.  It  was  argued 
when  the  treaty  was  repealed  and  a  duty  was  imposed  on  Canadian 
timber  that  we  should  buy  it  as  cheaply  as  ever.  Instead  of  this 
consummation,  it  has  been  found  that  our  importations  became  nearly 
threefold  as  large  as  before,  and  that  the  prices  in  Canada  doubled, 
showing  clearly  that  a  e  pay  the  duty  aud  injure  every  branch  of  in- 
dustry in  which  northern  timber  is  a  material. 

The  well-known  fact  is  that  we  are  rapidly  exhausting  our  supplies 
of  timber  in  the  Northern  States.  The  demand  for  it  increases  at  the 
rate  of  25  per  cent,  a  year,  and  even  those  who  are  interested  in  high 
prices  and  immediate  sales  of  what  is  left  of  it  admit  that  in  twenty 
years  building  timber  will  be  extremely  scarce,  and  that  in  many 
parts  of  the  country,  yet  supplied  in  part  from  their  own  soil,  it  will 
have  entirely  disappeared.  It  is  stated  on  good  authority  that  no 
less  than  63,923  establishments,  employing  393,378  persons  and  using 
material  to  the  value  of  $310,000,000  a  year,  were  engaged  in  1869  in 
manufacturing  articles  entirely  from  wood,  in  addition  to  7,439,840 


no 


23 

jiersons  partly  iMiiployiMl  on  wood  and  n.iliiK  that  niatorlal  y«»ar1y  to 
tlu)  viiliui  of  li(.'K>4,"0(>,(KMl.  Ill  Hoinc  inHtanccH,  following  th»'  example 
of  nioro  <'xpori«Mic(3(l  iiatlonH,  prt'tuiums  are  giv«Mi  to  thoHO  who  phint 
certain  anni8  with  for«Ht  trees.  Yet  lii  the  face  of  all  theHo  facts  we, 
niulor  the  name  of  "  protection,"  hotray  the  public  iiiterestH  into  the 
hantU  of  a  few  iiioi)o|>oli8t8,  and  condeiiui  oiu'  peoplr  to  pay  largo  ro- 
wardH  for  the  too  rapid  ileHtrnotion  oP  our  renniiniiig  forentH.  In  con- 
Hideriiig  these  facts  it  in  desiruhle  to  renieniber  that  nnder  a  free  sys- 
tem of  exchanges  Canada  would  he  paid  tor  her  lumber  in  the  prod- 
ucts of  our  labor. 

rUllMC  fU'INION  ox  TIIAIIK   WITH   TAXADA. 

The  value  of  an  extension  of  trade  with  Canada  is  duly  appreci- 
ated by  all  thoughtful  commert'ial  men.  The  National  Hoard  of  Trade 
passed  resolutions  and  petitioned  Congress  in  its  favor.  The  New 
York  Chamberof  Conunerco  regards  it  as  "  specially  desirable,  on  po- 
litical as  well  as  ecoriomical  grounds,  that  all  unnecessary  hindrances 
should  bo  removed  from  the  commercial  intercourse  Jietwren  the 
United  States  and  the  great  Dominion  which  bordjTs  our  northern 
border  for  so  many  thousands  of  miles,"  and  "  strongly  recommends 
the  proper  authorities  at  Washington  to  enter  into  such  treaty  Htipu- 
lations  whenever  the  Canadian  authorities  may  bo  found  ready  to 
meet  them  on  a  basis  of  perfect  fairness  and  equity."  The  boards  of 
trade  in  Uoston  and  Chicago,  and  many  other  similar  associations, 
have  earnestly  expressed  the  same  views.  Various  State  Legislatures, 
notably  that  of  New  York,  have  passed  resolutions  to  the  same  eftect. 
Proof  that  the  importance  of  the?  interests  involved  is  fully  appreci- 
ated, and  of  a  willingness  to  negotiate,  abounds  in  Canada. 

CANADA  WILLING  TO  NKOOTIATK. 

In  1873  the  Dominion  board  of  trade  presented  a  memorial  t'o  Earl 
Dufierin,  the  governor-general  of  the  Dominion,  expressing  a"  sincere 
and  cordial  desire"  that  he  would  "  be  pleased  to  make  such  repre- 
sentations to  tho  imperial  government  as  will  procure  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  cojnmission  to  meet  and  confer  with  a  similar  commission 
on  the  part  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  (if  such  commis- 
sion has  been  or  shall  be  appointed,)  for  tho  purpose  of  framing  and 
negotiating  such  a  treaty  of  reciprocal  trade  as  will  be  for  tho  mu- 
tual advantage  and  benefit  of  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  Domin- 
ion of  Canada  and  the  United  States."  The  Canadian  minister  of 
customs,  the  privy  council,  and  the  governor-general  fully  concurred 
in  these  views,  and  the  governor,  in  council,  formally  promised  that 
"  should  the  Government  of  the  United  States  comply  with  the  wishes 
exjiressed  by  the  National  Board  of  Trade,  the  subject  will  receive  the 
fullest  consideration  of  the  government  of  Canada."  There  is  good 
reason  for  believing  that  no  change  has  been  made  in  their  views. 


24 


During  the  present  year  a  leading  member  of  the  Dominion  board 
of  trade,  at  its  annual  meeting,  expressed  the  general  sentiaient  of 
those  who  were  present  by  saying,  "  We  are  anxious  to  deal  fairly  and 
liberally  with  our  neighbors,  and  on  condif-'.on  that  they  meet  us  in  a 
liberal  spirit."  A  resolution  was  passed,  declaring  '  that  this  board 
is  of  opinion  that  it  is  very  desirable  that  a  treaty  of  reciprocity  in 
trade  with  the  United  States,  on  a  comprehensive,  liberal^  and  fair 
basis,  shonld  be  obtained ;'  and  is  also  of  opinion  that  the  initiatory 
steps  thereto  ought  to  come  from  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
seeing  that  it  was  by  tlieir  action  that  the  old  treaty  was  abrogated." 
Thns  thee  is  ample  proof  that  commibsioners  would  be  promptly 
appointed  to  meet  and  confer  with  our  own. 

While  we  now  possess  a  most  valuable  market  and  increasing  mar- 
ket for  our  manufactures,  it  is  quite  as  certain  that  its  continuance 
depends  on  tne  duties  levied  by  the  Canadian  tarift".  A  largo  propor- 
tion of  the  manufactures  we  expert  so  extensively  to  the  Dominion, 
conspicuously  jiany  of  iron,  copper,  brass,  lead,  cotton,  &c.,  are  ad- 
mitted free  of  duty  or  at  almost  nominal  rates  of  5  or  10  per  cent., 
and  those  charged  at  higher  rates  than  17+  per  cent,  are  few  in  num- 
ber find  insign-  leant  in  quantity.  The  Canadians  have  it  in  their 
power,  and  it  couhl  be  n  ^  just  cause  of  complaint  by  us,  to  adopt  our 
own  scale  of  duties.  The  Ciiect  of  such  a  step  could  not  fail  to  inflict 
serious  injury  on  our  manufacturers,  many  of  whose  products  would 
soon  bo  excluded  from  the  Canadian  markets,  which  it  is  for  our  in- 
terest to  open  yet  more  widely. 

CONTRAST  CANADIAN  WITH  HAWAIIAN  TUADE. 

The  importance  of  our  present  and  future  commercial  relations 
with  the  Hawaiian  IsTduds  has  been  ably  discussed.  I  have  not  under- 
estimated nor  will  I  now  depreciate  it.  But  it  shrinks  into  seeming 
insignificance  in  comparison  with  the  value  of  the  trade  between  the 
people  oi  the  United  States  and  Canada.  In  the  same  year  when 
our  exports  of  cereal  productions  to  the  islands  amounted  to  the  value 
of  about  |!45,000  those  to  the  Dominion  were  of  the  value  of  over  four- 
teen millions,  our  exports  of  cotton  and  its  manufactures  to  the 
islands  were  about  $16,000,  and  of  iron  and  steel,  including  wooden- 
ware,  were  nearly  $20,000,  while  those  of  the  same  classes  to  Canada 
were  over  one  million  one  hundred  thousand  and  over  six  millions, 
respentivrely,  exclusive  of  wooden  ware.  The  exports  I  have  specitied 
to  Cana<la  are  exclusively  of  our  own  productions,  the  aggregate  of 
which  to  Canada  was  about  ninety  times  as  large  as  that  of  all  our 
exports  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands  during  the  same  time.  Without  pur- 
suing the  comparison  further  it  is  absolutely  unquestionable  that, 
i*  our  commerce  with  the  Hawaiian  Islands  is  worthy  of  special  at- 
tention, that  with  the  Dominion  of  Canada  is  almost  immeasurably 
more  so;  and  the  compaiison  loses  nothing  of  its  force  either  commer- 


25 


cially,  politically,  or  in  a  military  point  of  view  if  we  consider  the 
limited  area  of  the  islands  and  the  vast  territory  of  the  Dominion 
coterminous  with  our  own  to  be  inhabited  by  people  sprung  from  our- 
selves or,  like  ourselves,  from  the  foremost  nations  of  the  Old  World 
and  whose  number  will  be  computed  by  hundreds  of  millions. 

ENCOUHAOEMEXTS  TO  SMUGGUSO. 

While  tHe  moderate  rates  of  duty  exacted  by  th-i  Canadian  tariff  en- 
able us  to  make  large  exports  of  manufactures,  they  also  permit  goods 
from  other  countries  to  be  imported  on  the  same  terms.  Silks,  broad- 
cloth, plate,  watches,  jewelry,  &c.,  are  charged  with  a  duty  of  only 
17|  percent.  The  boundary  bet  weo  nthe  twocountries  not  only  extends 
across  the  continent,  but  the  shore-l'ne  is  increased  for  thousands  of 
miles  by  innumerable  bays,  affording  great  facilities  for  defrauding 
the  revenue.  At  other  places  a  smuggler  can  go  in  tha.day  or  night 
from  one  side  of  the  frontier  to  the  other  laden  with  jewelry,  laces, 
or  other  expensive  goods  literally  as  easily  and  with  as  much  security 
as  a  traveler  can  pass  from  one  farm  to  another  or  through  the  un- 
broken forest.  It  is  stated  that  stores,  kept  by  enterprising  mer- 
chants, are  buUt  on  the  imaginary  or  mathematical  line  separating 
the  two  countries,  and  that  goods  bought  in  each  are  sold  freely  to 
all  customers;  the  merchandise  itself  changing  places  from  the  shelves 
on  one  side  to  those  on  the  other  at  those  hours  and  opportunities 
when  it  iz  impossible  for  a  custom-house  officer,  however  vigilant,  to 
watch  what  may  be  done  inside  the  building.  No  "wonier  then  that 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should  have  found  "the  difficulty  at- 
tending a  proper  surveillance  of  our  northern  frontier"  of  sufficient 
importance  as  to  direct  special  attention  to  it  in  his  last  report  as 
being  "  under  existing  circumstances  very  great,  if  not  in  some  re- 
spects insurmountable."  To  guard  these  lines  with  moderate  security 
an  enormous  ixicreise  of  the  revenue  service  would  even  now  be  ab- 
solutely indispensable.  In  the  four  collection  districts  of  Vermont, 
Champlain,  Oswegatchie,  and  Cape  Vincent,  having  a  frontier  line  of 
more  than  three  hundred  miles,  after  deducting  for  a  few  officers  em- 
ployed in  permanent  service  at  the  principal  ports  and  minor  stations, 
"there  remain,"  says  the  Seci'ctary  of  the  Treasury,  "but  fourteen 
as  a  preventive  force,  or  less  than  one  man  for  every  twenty-one  miles 
of  frontier." 

As  the  frontier  regions  become  more  populous  and  goods  brought 
from  one  c  untry  to  the  other  meet  with  readier  sales,  these  difficul- 
ties will  be  incalculably  increased  and  it  will  be  absolutely  impossi- 
ble to  prevent  immense  quantities  of  valuable  goodd  from  being  il- 
licitly brought  across  the  line  without  payment  of  any  duty. 

In  addition  to  these  suggestive  facts  it  is  to  be  remembered  that 
some  cf  the  most  liberal  and  advanced  statesmen  in  Great  Britain, 
not  content  with  the  present  anomalous  relations  of  the  mother-coun- 


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try  and  the  colonies,  entertain  the  project  of  a  Zollverein  or  customs- 
union  l>etween  them.  The  people  of  these  countries  have  as  un- 
doubted rights  to  free-trade  with  each  other  as  the  citizens  of  our 
■different  States  now  enjoy  among  themselves. 

But,  if  ti\e  difficulties  attending  our  present  tariff  ure  now  "  in  some 
respects  insurmountable,"  what  would  they  becoiiie  If  the  same  free- 
dom of  trade  ae  exists  between  the  States  of  the  Unionwere  also  a 
matter  of  fact  between  the  different  parts  of  the  British  Empire  ? 
There  is  no  complete  remedy  but  such  a  customs-union  as  I  have  sug- 
:gested  between  the  United  States  and  the  Dominion. 

COMMISSIONERS  WOULD  IJiJl'dlT  IMPARTIALLY. 

In  proposing  the  appointment  of  rommissioners  to  confer  with 
other  commissioners  duly  authorized  by  the  government  of  Grea*; 
Britain,  or  Avhenever  it  shall  appear  to  be  the  wish  of  that  govein- 
mont  to  appoint  such  commissioners,  to  investigate  and  ascertain  on 
what  basis  a  treaty  of  reciprocal  trade  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  the 
I)eople  cf  the  United  States  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada  can  be  ne- 
gotiated, and  to  report  the  results  of  their  investigation  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  there  is  no  bias  toward  any  special  form 
of  reciprocity.  They  may  or  may  not  approve  of  such  a  customs 
union  as  under  existing  circumstances  seems  to  me  the  best  and  only 
lierfect  solution  of  the  embarrassments  attending  the  present  com- 
mercial relations  of  the  two  countries,  as  it  would  effect  a  great  sav- 
ing in  the  revenue  service,  abolish  smuggling,  give  complete  freedom 
of  transit  to  the  people  on  both  sides,  and  by  a  continuous  and  har- 
monious development  of  their  resoiirces  encourage  social  intercourse 
and  prepare  the  way  for  whatever  other  institutions  their  intelli- 
gence and  mutual  good-will  might  hereafter  suggest  and  approve. 
But  between  such  an  arrangement  and  the  present  condition  of  trade 
there  are  many  intermediate  steps.  It  ought  not  to  bo  difficult  to 
agree  upon  the  basis  of  a  common  tariff  on  all  articles,  such  as  silks, 
laces,  brandies,  wines,  jewelry,  &,o.,  the  importation  of  which  is  taxed 
only  for  revenue,  and  in  regard  to  which  no  irreconcilable  differences 
of  politico-economical  theory  arise,  or  to  determine  the  ter  is  of  equi 
table  division  of  the  revenue  collected  from  them  in  common,  if  this 
only  were  done,  the  m^  ^t  extensive  smuggling  from  which  the  rev- 
enue of  the  United  States  suffers  would  be  stopped,  and  our  own 
public  Treasury  would  be  the  gainer  by  many  millioiis.  Some  at 
least  of  the  manufactures  and  raw  products  of  each  country  could 
be  admitted  to  free  exchange  with  those  of  the  other. 

SUMMAUY  AND  CONCLUSION. 

Beyond  these  considerations,  or  rather  as  vheir  basis,  are  the  plain 
and  well-known  facts  that  the  prosperity  of  our  people  and  our  strength 
as  a  nation  depend  upon  their  unrestricted  exchanges  of  the  products 


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Zi 


of  their  labor  more  tlmn  upon  any  other  material  cause,  and  that  the 
relative  positions  of  the  United  States  and  the  Dominion  render  sim- 
ilar commercial  relations  no  less  valuable  to  our  citizens  and  the  Ca- 
nadians ;  that  if  permitted  to  develop  themselves  harmoniously,  ac- 
cording to  the  unrestricted  wishes  of  the  people,  the  mutual  interests 
of  the  two  countries  are  even  more  important  than  taose  of  many  of 
our  own  States,  and  that  whatever  would  directly  benefit  so  large  a 
number  of  them  must  be  jirofitable  to  them  all  and  should  be  desired 
by  all. 

Whatever  arrangements  may  be  made  might  properly  include  va- 
rious regulations  necessary  for  the  freedom  and  convenience  of  our 
commercial  and  social  neighborhood  and  intercourse,  such  as  a  uni- 
form system  of  extradition,  light-houses,  copyrights,  postage,  patents, 
telegraphs,  weights,  measures,  and  coinage. 

The  principles  I  am  desirous  of  seeing  brought  into  active  use  are 
simply  those  expressed  nearly  a  century  ago  by  Girard,  Franklin, 
Deane,and  Lee  in  atreatyjof  commerce  between  France  and  the  United 
Stsites,  in  which  they,  on  the  part  of  this  country,  agreed  to  avoid 
"  all  those  burdensome  prejudices  which  are  usually  sources  of  debate, 
embarrassment,  and  discontent,"  and  to  take  as  the  "  basis  of  their 
agreement  the  most  perfect  equality  and  reciprocity,"  "founding  the 
advantage  of  commerce  solely  ujion  reciprocal  utility  and  the  just 
rules  of  free  intexoourse."  Thus  all  petty,  acrimonious  debates  as  to 
whether  one  party  would  make  more  or  leas  than  the  other  would 
cease.  All  would  be  merged  in  considerations  of  plain  and  palpable 
benefit  as  far  as  it  is  between  States  and  individuals  in  the  Union. 

It  is  undeniable  that  +he  government  and  people  of  Canada  are 
desirous  of  meeting  in  «  friondly  and  liberal  spirit  whatever  eftbrts 
we  may  make  toward  extending  our  trade  with  them.  Thus  appar- 
ently the  means  of  benefiting  a  large  and  suffering  portion  of  our 
population  are  open  to  us  by  giving  "^hem  employment  through  an  ex- 
tended market  for  their  productions.  How  much  this  is  needed  may 
be  estimated  from  the  statement  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in 
his  annual  report,  that  our  domestic  exports  to  all  countries  decreased 
in  value  $70,149,321  last  year.  By  opening  trade  with  Canada  we 
should  also  furnish  our  people  with  a  more  abundant  supply  of  the 
necessaries  of  life  and  some  of  the  materials  for  manufactures.  The 
purpose  of  the  resolutions  now  under  consideration  is  simply  to  as- 
certain, after  full  and  careful  investigation  by  intelligent  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  how  far  and  through  wb  it  measures  we  can  best 
bring  into  actual  practice  the  opportunities  which  are  placed  within 
our  reach  by  the  circumstances  of  the  times  and  i/y  immutable  nature, 
or  rather  bv  Providence  itself. 


